Aliana. The Summer Palace Aliana's maids moved around the room lighting candles as the sky outside turned dusky, then inky purple. Breeze off the sea had kept her chambers mercifully cooler even in the heat of the day, and Aliana was thankful they had moved court to the Summer Palace if only for a few short days. Derrick arrived with the rest of the cavalry at the same moments of dusk three days earlier. Aliana had been installed in the Summer Palace that same morning, after traveling quickly through the night. Her body ached with exhaustion, but the embrace she had bestowed upon her brother would have appeared to disprove it. They were up early the next morning to walk along the rocky outcrops along the coast, and did not return to the palace until the sun was well into its arc through the sky and their clothes bore signs of sweat. The respite had been his idea, to Aliana's surprise and relief. It was his thirtieth birth day, and a celebration would serve an easy excuse for diplomacy. The Randals' Summer Palace was a retreat surpassed by none, and an invitation therein was an issuance that brought a return assurance of fealty. For Aliana, it meant only a chance to see her brother out of his armor and clean of blood. That was a gift no bending of the knee could match.